CC Adi 5.149 (1975)
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 149
- nityānanda-svarūpa pūrve ha-iyā lakṣmaṇa
- laghu-bhrātā haiyā kare rāmera sevana
SYNONYMS
nityānanda-svarūpa—Lord Nityānanda Svarūpa; pūrve—formerly; ha-iyā—becoming; lakṣmaṇa—Lakṣmaṇa, Lord Rāmacandra's younger brother; laghu-bhrātrā haiyā—becoming the younger brother; kare—does; rāmera sevana—service to Lord Rāmacandra.
TRANSLATION
Lord Nityānanda Svarūpa formerly appeared as Lakṣmaṇa and served Lord Rāmacandra as His younger brother.
PURPORT
Among the sannyāsīs of the Śaṅkara-sampradāya there are different names for brahmacārīs. Each sannyāsī has some assistants, known as brahmacārīs, who are called by different names according to the names of the sannyāsī. Among such brahmacārīs there are four names: Svarūpa, Ānanda, Prakāśa and Caitanya. Nityānanda Prabhu maintained Himself as a brahmacārī; He never took sannyāsa. As a brahmacārī His name was Nityānanda Svarūpa, and therefore the sannyāsī under whom He was living must have been from the tīrthas or āśramas because the assistant brahmacārī of such a sannyāsī is called Nityānanda Svarūpa.